The Hindu : Bush may attend Jordan summit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 29, 2003

International

International

Bush may attend Jordan summit

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington MAY 28. The Bush administration is supposed to be giving final touches to the President's visit to West Asia, with reports now speaking of a second summit to be hosted by Jordan.

The White House is being careful even at this point, stressing that the President, George W. Bush's visit to West Asia is under "active consideration'' adding that if Mr. Bush's trip were to materialise that would be after the Group of Eight meeting in France. "At this point, there are just some formalities as the President continues to review the exact manner in which he... (can) bring the parties together in bringing peace to the Middle East'', the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said.

As the President gets ready for his trip to Poland, Russia and France, there is increasing optimism that he would also be attending the "two summits'' in West Asia which would send a strong signal to domestic critics and sceptics overseas that this administration does indeed have a policy that is comprehensive in scope.

According to the present scheme of things, Mr. Bush is expected to travel to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt to meet several Arab leaders including the King of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. The second summit is being scheduled in Aqaba, which is intended to bring together Mr. Bush, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen.

West Asia is increasingly becoming a prime focus of this Republican administration and a critical component of this is the Road Map envisioned ultimately leading to a Palestinian state by 2005. But no one here is underestimating or ignoring the potential pitfalls en route. For instance, there is already some confusion as to what the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, meant when he said that he was in charge of the peace talks. It is an open secret that this Bush administration deliberately kept Mr. Arafat at a distance and refused to communicate to him on the grounds that he did not do enough to combat terror or in clamping down on militants striking at Israel.

In insisting on changes in the Palestinian leadership, Washington has now signalled willingness to talk to Mr. Abbas. At the same time, the administration has said that it will not abandon the interests of Israel. Along with the West Asia peace process, this Bush administration is also paying a lot of attention to Iran in recent days, especially in the aftermath of the Saudi Arabia bombings that killed 34 people earlier this month.

The White House is stepping up pressure on Iran over the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda operatives in that country even if Teheran is adamant in its denials.

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